However, a lack of lethal injection doses led to a delay of executions because the original decree stipulated that the drugs be imported from the European Union (EU).

The EU banned the exportation of lethal injection drugs because it regards capital punishment to be a violation of human rights, except when EU members engage in extralegal killings as part of NATO forces in Afghanistan and elsewhere.

The Vietnamese government later amended the decree, which took effect on June 27, allowing domestic-made drugs.